Language & Power Podcast

In the final episode of the week we look at the speech given by Txai Suruí - an activist from the Amazon - and a response to it from Jair Bolsonaro. We talk about myth, intertextuality and the power of discourse.

YouTube video of Txai Suruí's speech

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We look back at the inspiring speech given at the opening plenary of COP 26 by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms. Mia Mottley. Tom discusses the speech in terms of appraisal theory and Michael contrasts the representation of social actors here with that in the speeches of Boris Johnson that we looked at in episodes 1 and 2. We observe the great discomfort of other world leaders in the room.

Speech: Mia Mottley (at 1hr:20mins)

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Tom and Michael discuss speeches given by the UK's Boris Johnson and Antigua & Barbuda's Gaston Brown. We see how they use personal pronouns to present very different 'leader' personas and how we can see contrasting conceptions of climate change through their use of metaphor. Sound bite of the day comes from Alexandria Villaseñor's tweet on limits to access experienced by civil society delegates at the COP.

Gaston Brown Speech

Boris Johnson Speech

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In this episode, we discuss the language of Boris Johnson's pre-COP 26 speech at the G20 in Rome. What are the purposes of the speech? What are the effects of vague language? Are the claimed commitments really commitments? We also discuss Greta Thunberg's performance in Govan.

Johnson’s G20 speech

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